Power outages may disrupt polling places on Election Day

KATIE COE PHOTO | A power line that fell during the hurricane. Power outages could continue into next week, disrupting some polling places during the election.

Tuesday’s election will likely be disrupted in some areas due to power outages and inaccessible polling places, said representatives of the Suffolk County Board of Elections on Friday.

“We are currently assessing the situation regarding the accessibility of our polling places,” said Election Commissioners Anita Katz and Wayne Rogers in a press release Friday afternoon. “Once we establish which of our polling places are inoperative, we will make arrangements to relocate those election districts, notify voters and accommodate the electorate to the best of our ability.”

The county will be extending absentee voting hours, which will be held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. tonight and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Board of Elections headquarters on Yaphank Avenue.

No East End locations had been evaluated on the Board of Elections’ most recent list of polling place relocations as of late Friday. Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Times/Review will provide updated information as it becomes available.

Newsday reported Thursday that, of the 700 polling sites in Nassau and Suffolk , only 331 were currently able to receive voting machines.

“We are doing everything possible to ensure that our elections will move forward as scheduled,” said the commissioners.